Capturing movement: the new Heden bus terminal exploring spatial qualities that translucent façade skins bring in transportation architecture

Abstract

TRANSLUCENY ”At the two ends of the spectrum of light control and transmission stand transparency and opacity. Translucency inhabits the broad middle ground between those two. Translucent surfaces permit the passage of light while visually obscuring what’s behind it. Translucency promotes ambiguity; a sense of mystery and a complexity that allows for multiple understandings of what a space can be.” [Translucency, An Architect’s Guide, 2016] DESIGN PERSPECTIVE: The cognitive and spatial effect of inbetweenness created with translucent materials by allowing light to pass through; however filtering it, so that the transferred visual is modified by the material qualities of that translucent material. CAPTURING MOVEMENT Translucent surfaces screen casted shadows and create a game of shadows in which one would be able to see and track the movement of an object or a change in the position of a light source behind the surface. RELATION TO TRANSPORTATION ARCHITECTURE In transportation architecture, - where dif-ferent types and scales of of bodies move in relation - translucent surfaces has a special place by limiting the view for people and creating spatious, lighted spaces and reducing the stress of being in between the movement happening around. HEDEN BUS TERMINAL Heden Bus Terminal is a neglected corner at Heden, which is a commercially and culturally active area in central Göteborg and holds a contextual potential to experiment on movement and translucent skins.